A lot has changed since Christoph Kaffanke started Bali Alm in 2012. The Stuttgart-born ex-chef and engineer has expanded his cheese factory in Ungasan, and now produces 50 variants of French, Swiss and Italian cheeses on top of his bestselling fresh yoghurt, and has gone to two retail shops. At the moment, Bali Alm’s Raclette, Camembert or Tilsiter are supplied to several luxurious resorts in Bali and championed by the island’s top executive chefs.
One thing that doesn’t change over the years is Kaffanke’s insistence on the quality of his main ingredient: fresh milk. “We work with a dairy cattle farm in Malang, East Java. It is not possible to obtain a permit to open a dairy cattle farm with Holstein Friesian cows in Bali and we have no choice but to source our milk from Java. With the transportation risk, we also have no other option than having the milk pasteurised and homogenised in situ, prior to shipment in a refrigerator truck. That way, we minimise the risk of pathogen infection,” says Kaffanke who currently receives three milk deliveries per week. His culinary background plays a great deal in his cheese creation and nothing excites him more than creating customised yoghurt or cheese products like the goat cream cheese, which he exclusively produced for an ice cream shop in Seminyak.
Bali Alm supplies the island’s demand for locally produced natural artisan cheese. Lately, Kaffenke is drawn to the complexity of cheese ageing process. “I have a few wheels of German-style Mountain cheese that are aged for six months. As soon as the new factory construction is completed, I will make a 50 kilogram statement cheese wheel for the pleasure of it. That’s what I love about cheesemaking. Even after all these years, I can always find a new way to make cheese,” says Kaffanke cheerfully.
